


in front of all your stupid friends

by redstainedtoes



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Julie Molina Appreciation, Luke Patterson-centric (Julie and The Phantoms), M/M, Modern Era, Soft Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), THEYRE SO IN LOVE OMG, but i love him so it stays, i couldn't just NOT include willex, nick has like one line, same with willie, what kind of monster do you think i am
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:48:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29668209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redstainedtoes/pseuds/redstainedtoes
Summary: Julie and Luke would have made a perfect couple...that being said, he doesn't understand why they can't be.(basically just Luke and Julie being dramatic for 5k words)
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 12
Kudos: 110





	in front of all your stupid friends

**Author's Note:**

> The inspiration of this song is THIS COVER OF BETTY: https://youtu.be/vTyBxLKIN7M
> 
> if u want the full effect of what i was going for pls pls pls listen to it first

Despite what anyone might think, they were not hooking up.

Not that Luke was completely opposed to it, but he was just a teenage boy. Anyway, back to the point. That was not why they were sneaking around, although if you had asked anyone, they would have said that's what it looked like. A plethora of excuses had been made over time, and honestly it was getting exhausting. But Luke had promised himself to honor her wishes, no matter how much he loathed hiding the way they were.

So there he was, in an empty house with Julie Molina sitting on his kitchen counter, Chase Atlantic playing in the background. Her request, of course (Luke would never admit to liking music someone else had found before he did, he was stubborn like that). He stood between her legs, hands resting on either side of her. Their faces were so close that he could feel her breath on his face as she spoke in hushed tones to him. Her chocolate hair tickled his cheek when he looked up at her, not really enjoying the height difference when she sat up there. She was mentioning something about school, if she was still talking about that at all; Luke's thoughts were just on taking in the girl in front of him. 

Luke Patterson lived for music, everyone knew that, it fueled him and gave him his signature addictive energy that hung off of him like the scent of cheap cologne. But moments like these humbled him and simultaneously made him want to drop down to his knees in worship and lift them both to the polluted night sky. He knew Julie's rose perfume would linger on his clothes until he washed them and even that thought made him want to avoid doing laundry for weeks to come. 

His thoughts were interrupted when she leaned down and briefly pressed her lips to his.

"Luke," he vaguely registered her say his name. But really, could you blame him for being distracted by her?

"Hm?" was the only sound he made, still a bit dazed.

"Were you listening to a word I said?" He fought the urge to grimace. Again, could you blame him?

"Yes, absolutely," he responded, eyes not really focusing on one thing, wanting to take her in as a whole.

"You were doing the thing again."

"What thing?" He scrunched up his face. He didn't do a _thing._

"You kind of zone out and just stare at me."

"To be fair," he reasoned, relaxing once more, "your face is very distracting."

"Is that so?" she asked, leaning in and kissing him again.

"Yeah," Luke said dumbly against her lips. She hummed in response and he got tangled in the sensations of Julie and whatever feelings were buried in the back of his throat.

When he started to drift from her lips, though, she fought a laugh and whined his name, "Luuke, your parents are gonna be home soon."

He chuckled at her nerves, "And?" He just wanted to stay with her for as long as possible. He went in to kiss her again but his lips met nothing but the palm of her hand. He wasted no time in flipping it over and pressing a kiss on her knuckles.

She rolled her eyes and huffed, "Seriously. I have to get home." Luke's face twisted into a frown but he held her hand and stepped to the side so she could jump down from the counter. They walked hand-in-hand until they got to his front door, where he anxiously attempted to drag out their final moments together until they had to pretend once more. He kissed her cheek gently and she gave him a soft, fond smile when he pulled back.

"Until we meet again," he said dramatically, bowing and kissing her hand once more. She let out a breathy laugh, but didn't pull away until he stood up.

She straightened herself, smoothing the wrinkles in her shirt and flattening her hair, then went to open the door. She turned back to quickly say, "Bye Luke," before she opened it and walked out like nothing had happened. Luke sighed. Maybe one day they could walk out of that door together.

\---

School went just like any other day: impossibly long and even more impossibly boring. It was torture. But there was another kind of torture weighing Luke down and oh, such sweet torture it was. Julie Molina, his muse, his harmony, his mariposa, his star, was dangerously close to him all day. She was within an arms length from him for what felt like hours on end, even though it was truly just painful minutes. He couldn't even so much as send a smile her way without raising suspicions, which was difficult considering how much that girl brought out his signature enthusiastic grin. Hell, even a smirk would cause their friends to ask questions, something that Luke was wary of considering how afraid of it Julie was. Nobody could know, what they had was just for them and nobody else.

Luke's best friends were chill, and he wanted nothing more than to let them know what was going on. He hated lying to them. They were his bandmates and his family and they deserved better than that. However, whenever he came into school with a toothy smile on his face and touched his friends more than usual, they just assumed he was inspired and left it alone. To be fair, they weren't wrong, and he really was thankful they usually didn't press on the reason, despite how he wished to reveal the secret. He knew it wasn't entirely his to tell, so he stayed silent. Alex, Reggie, and Bobby were like his brothers, and Reggie's famous curiosity made him even more desperate to be honest.

If Luke thought his friends were nosy, then Julie's friends were downright creepy. They told each other everything that happened ever, and they would pester each other if they suspected someone was hiding something. Luke only really knew one of them, Willie, and that was only because they were dating Alex. Despite the slight overlap in groups, they never really interacted. Willie was always the one to come to them, too, Alex would never go to Julie's group. Honestly, Luke didn't blame him. Flynn and Carrie seemed a bit intense. Carrie had pink hair and definitely would not hesitate to stab anyone. She was dating Flynn, who seemed kind of sweet but was really bossy and was _scary_ when she got mad. Luke liked to tell himself that he didn't mind not talking to Julie in school because he wanted to avoid her friends, but it sounded like a lie even in his own mind.

So he watched her from afar, ignoring the stinging pain in his heart whenever she walked past him without so much as looking at him. When nobody was looking, he would stare longingly at her from across whatever room they were in. Every once in a while, when they were undetected, she would notice and give him a murderous stare, telling him to _back down._ Whenever that happened, he would avert his gaze and stare mindlessly at whatever was in front of him, daydreaming about the day that he could say she was his. He wanted her to wear her jacket, to walk her to class, all that cheesy stuff she probably wouldn't let him do anyway. What? He was a romantic at heart. 

Luke couldn't take it anymore. He needed at least one moment with her before he lost his fucking mind. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was aware that he was only letting himself do this because Julie was his impulse control. But then again he was doing this for her. Did those cancel each other out? Whatever the reason, he knew that if she yelled at him for what he was about to do it would be worth it. 

School was ending, the final bell ringing. Luke had ditched study hall, so he waited on the side of the school where nobody went, leaning on the rough brick wall. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her, he would never miss her, and thank god she was alone. He made sure the coast was clear as he waited for her to come closer. When she was within reach, he stretched out one sleeveless arm and wrapped his fingers around her small wrist, pulling her to him. She let out a surprised squeak and he smiled at the cute noise. Once she was out of sight like him, he trapped her against the wall, one arm next to her head and the other holding her hand, leaving enough room for her to leave if she really wanted to.

"Luke," she breathed out, eyes widening, "Luke what are you doing?"

He started to pepper kisses all over her face, in no particular pattern, before he lifted his head just enough to mumble, "Missed you."

She opened her mouth to talk, an affectionate look in her eyes, before her brain seemed to catch up, pushing him away.

"Someone could see us!" she whisper-shouted at him.

He shrugged and pulled back enough to look in her eyes, searching for something beneath them, "Nobody ever looks back here. I just wanted some time with you."

She sighed, playfully rolling her eyes and letting him lean down to finally connect their lips. She relaxed under his touch, but he seemed to even more, like he was holding onto so much tension that he didn't know what to do with. She threw her arms over his shoulders and let one hand comb through the hair on the back of his neck.

After a while he pulled back slowly and looked at her, emotions swimming in his eyes. He looked her softly and whispered, "You know I love you, right Jules?"

She nodded, squeezing his hand with a reassuring smile on her face, "Always."

That seemed to brighten whatever mood he was in the most, flashing yet another famous Patterson grin, the one that plenty of girls in their school would whisper about during class, as if she couldn't hear them. But then again, why would they worry about that if they didn't know about their relationship, however you could define it.

They both heard the telltale ding of a phone in her pocket and Luke's face fell. He knew her schedule by heart, the result of being able to look but not interact, and he knew that every day she and Flynn would meet up to walk home together, and that she was probably late. Julie smiled sadly and went up on her toes to kiss his cheek before whispering, "Wait a few minutes." Well accustomed to their unfortunate routine, Luke reluctantly nodded and watched her with a longing look as she carefully walked away. If only she could see things the way he did, she would let him walk out with her.

\---

Julie Molina always hosted parties, despite her vocal hatred of them (well, vocal only to Luke, but then again he was special). He never really was sure why she threw them anyway, but apparently that was none of his business. What was his business, however, was that he wanted to see her. She hadn't responded to any of his calls all day, and they hadn't been together for a few days. All things considered, he still probably should have turned away when he saw lights on in every room of the house through her thin curtains, and heard the faint echo of bass-heavy music through the walls. But Luke Patterson was nothing if not determined (and oblivious).

He rang the doorbell and stood there, twirling his rings around his fingers. He faintly heard the sound of something shattering, a string of curses, and a chorus of laughter before the door opened. When Julie saw him, however, her laughter died in her throat and her glowing smile faded from her. 

"Luke," the surprise in her voice already made him want to turn away and pretend this exchange had never happened. Behind her, he could see a full party in progress, music, lights, tons of people, all the elements needed for an amazing night. Without him. Quickly, he snapped into his cocky, everybody-loves-me-because-I'm-Luke-Patterson-and-I'll-flirt-with-you-to-prove-it-also-I'm-scared-of-rejection mask he used whenever he needed the confidence.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed at him, closing the door even more so that only she could see him. _Ouch._

He threw on a smirk, leaning on the doorframe, and tried to act nonchalant, "I thought it could've been just you and me today baby." He punctuated his statement with a wink.

But of course, Julie Molina was never one to fall for his antics. She simply rolled her eyes and scoffed before saying in an oddly composed manner, "Well you thought wrong. And I'm not your baby here. You should go."

Luke's face fell, and he nodded at the ground, unable to meet her eyes. Of course she was going to avoid him when there were other people, that's how it always had been, and it had been foolish to think otherwise.

And even though this was what they had agreed to, what hurt the most was that he heard from somewhere behind him as he was walking away in defeat, 

"Was that Luke Patterson?"

"Yeah. Wrong address."

\---

There was a tension that settled between the two of them as they sat in the Patterson's house, or maybe it was just in Luke's head. They had completely ignored each other all day at school due to the "party incident" and it angered him, but again, she never really looked at him anyway. Maybe his emotions were just too easy to toy with when he got like this, when he was hyper-aware of when she was ignoring him. Why did they have to keep going like this? What was stopping them? His thoughts were occupied with these questions as they sat on his couch and watched a movie, her legs thrown over his own. He wasn't even aware the credits had started rolling, but he heard Julie say something.

"What was that?" he said.

"Did you like the movie?"

He paused, not answering. 

"Luke?" she tentatively asked, sounding concerned.

"Why does it have to be like this?" he blurted out, not catching himself in time.

Julie let out a nervous laugh, "What do you mean?"

He turned around to face her. "Us, this, whatever we are. Why do we have to sneak around?"

"We've been over this, you know why," she answered simply, voice stern. She swung her legs off of his and turned her body to face his, in a defensive position.

"Do I?" he started, voice raising ever so slightly, "Because you keep making the same excuses over and over again but none of them are any reason to hide from our _friends_."

Julie sighed, not wanting a fight, "We both have reputations, Luke."

But he just couldn't stop himself. He was getting angry. "Since when do you care about that stuff? Since when would I?" His voice was getting louder and louder. The back of his mind begged him to stop before it became a screaming match, but he couldn't help himself, "Since when does it matter?"

"Since we have things that are expected of us, I thought you knew that!" she shot back, tuning in to his emotions and beginning to feel that same frustration. She had always been scarily good at reading him and matching it, but now it had taken a turn for the worse. (That had always been something on the long list of things Luke loved about her, her ability to see and understand what he was feeling no matter what the circumstance, no matter what the emotion).

He scoffed, "What's the point of meeting expectations if you aren't happy? You can't run from something just cause it might not work out!"

Julie's voice quieted to a dangerous tone that only she was meant to hear, "Yeah, coming from the guy that runs from home every other week."

Luke was taken aback. He thought she didn't care about that stuff. "I know you didn't mean that, Julie," he responded in that same low voice.

"Yes, I did!" Julie said, voice raising once more, "You can't just tell me what to do if you won't fix any of your problems first!"

Now Luke was just getting pissed, "I'm not telling you what to do, Julie. I just asked you a question!"

"Yeah, until you decided you didn't like the answer!" she shot back, "Nothing's ever good enough for Luke Patterson is it?"

"You are, Julie! You know how I feel about you!" He paused for a moment before continuing, "You're the one hiding me away from everyone. When do I get a say?"

"You get a say when you stop acting like a brat about it! We agreed on this! You said you'd do anything as long as I was comfortable and happy, where's that now?" Julie was nearly screaming at this point, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Yet you get a say even when you're acting like a bitch!" Luke yelled at her. Julie flinched like she had been slapped, and maybe that's what if felt like.

Her voice quieted again, "I'm not ready yet, can't you respect that?"

"Bullshit!" he screamed, "We've been doing this for a year now, what more do you want from me?"

"I want you to respect my boundaries. I would have let you tell people sooner if you hadn't kept pushing it," and there it was, the point that broke Luke.

"What the fuck?" he shouted, eyes narrowing and face turning red, unable to control his anger, "Get out of my house."

Julie looked up at him with big, wet eyes, "Are you breaking up with me?"

"Were we ever really together?" he immediately responded. He waited for something, some reaction from her, anything to stop him, but she stood still, eyes cast down again. "Fuck you. Get out of my house."

And so she did, storming out without another look at him. When she slammed the door it echoed in the empty space she had taken up and shook the room. He was even more shaken than his surroundings.

Luke sat there for a long time. He wasn't sure when his hands started shaking, all he could think of was the wrong feeling settling inside him. Either guilt or pride, he wasn't sure which at this point, prevented him from running to her house and falling on his knees. Maybe it was both, he was guilty for treating someone so special like he did, but he needed time and following her so soon would just annoy her and make him seem desperate. So Luke did what he did best: repress his emotions until he needed them for a song. He couldn't write anything about it so soon, though, not until he had tried to make things right. An apology song maybe? No, that would be cheesy, and she hated that. Unfortunately, Luke was a grand gestures kind of guy, but he knew that he would have to humble himself to get her back.

Fuck, he couldn't even tell his friends. Now more than ever he needed to keep Julie's trust and respect her privacy. God, why did he have to go and screw everything up? He finally had something good, like a butterfly caught in a jar, but he had forgotten to put holes to let it breathe, and it had started to die out. And now he had let it go completely, although it was still in his line of view. Maybe if he stretched far enough, he could reach it and cradle it gently in his hands until it was healed and willing once more.

Julie deserved so much better than what he had been given her. She had boundaries and knew what she wanted but clearly not what she needed. She was too good for Luke, a goddess standing among mortals. There was something beautiful, not just referring to the way she looked, about the way she was, like she was wrapped in silk and gold with drops of sunlight falling for only her. 

He thought back to what she had said, _we both have reputations._ He supposed that was true. Julie Molina was a star, just like he always told her. She wasn't necessarily popular, but she was sweet with a fiery attitude and everybody around her loved her for it. She loved music as well, just not to the same extent he did. She wrote and sang, and when he thought about it, she was talented in a lot of things. She was a gifted dancer, he had learned that firsthand. She could write poetry and lyrics, and she obviously had the voice of an angel, but everybody already knew that. She had her secrets too, a whole other side of her that opened up like a blooming flower whenever she was with her people, and maybe that's why he was so drawn to her, a need to find out more and to witness more of her magic.

Luke, on the other hand, was the resident heartbreaker. At least, that's what people that didn't really know him said. He still didn't know how he did it, even though Julie had tried to explain that it was something about his energy and magnetism, but there were plenty of girls at their school and at gigs that flirted with him on a daily basis. He was never into it though, he wanted his message to reach people, not just gossip about his constant lack of sleeves that Julie had always made fun of. Everybody seemed to know of him, but never actually knew him. Sometimes people would just see him as a pretty face with nice arms and a decent voice but he was more than that. Everything he wrote was genuine, and he strived to put power and emotion behind every word, every note. He was the kind of person that loved big gestures and dramatic moments (Julie was the opposite, and so he had always tried to tone it down for her). He loved his band with all his heart. Luke had so much love to give that he didn't know what to do with it all, so he poured it into his music and showered those he cared about with affection, through touch and words. Something else that nobody knew about him was that he was very much in love with Julie Molina.

\---

It had been just over a week and the sweet torture had turned to salt in his wounds. He was ready to make his way back to the girl that he loved so much it hurt. He mustered up all his courage, took a deep breath in and out, and rapped his knuckles on the door in front of him three times. His own words echoed in his mind: _now or never._ He didn't have any more time to recite his own lyrics for strength when the door began to open. Would she even let him in? Would she say something frustrating (but a little cute) like "go fuck yourself" or would she just slam the door in his face?

Luckily, it was not Julie at the door, but Willie and his annoyingly perfect hair. Luke saw a party going on in the background, the stench of cheap alcohol reaching him and some music he would never admit to be good in the background. 

"Luke, right?" he nodded so Willie continued, "You didn't happen to bring Alex, did you?"

"Sorry man, I'll bring him next time," Luke promised. Willie seemed happy with that answer because he stepped to the side and gestured for Luke to come in. When he stepped inside, the energy of the atmosphere felt more relaxed than he had thought it would be. He stopped short in the middle of the living room, wondering would Julie would be. Maybe she was in her room? Luke wouldn't be allowed up there anyway. Luke was probably having a lucky day or something, most likely the universe letting him down slowly (he tried not to think about that idea), because he saw Nick Danforth-Evans out of the corner of his eye. Although Nick was Julie's ex, he was kind and friendly with everyone all the time, and Luke genuinely enjoyed his presence.

"Hey Nick?" the blonde looked up from his cup, "Do you know where Julie would be?" 

Nick scrunched up his face as if to say, _why would you want to know_ _?_ But he still responded, "Last I saw her was on the balcony."

"Thanks man," Luke said offhandedly as he wandered off to find his- _not yours anymore,_ his traitorous brain commented. Honestly, if this didn't work out he would probably jump off of that damn balcony Nick said she was on. 

He vaguely heard some pop song karaoke as he made his way to the balcony, and walked closer to see who it was. Surprise surprise, it was Julie, singing her heart out to _Potential Breakup Song_ by Aly and AJ. He stood there, not wanting to interrupt her performance, leaning on the doorframe. He smiled as he watched her belt out the last bit of the song, jumping around with her eyes scrunched closed, singing beautifully as always. When she finished, she turned toward the edge of the balcony and stuck her microphone in the air dramatically. He could hear all her friends applauding her performance down below. When it quieted and Julie lowered her arm, putting the mic back in its stand, he knew it was time to make his presence known. He clapped loudly against the quiet, starting to stand straight up. 

Julie whipped her head around and froze, eyes widening and breathing sharply, "Luke." Oh how he missed hearing her say his name.

"Julie-" he began, taking steps forward to her, but was interrupted by the sounds of her friends confused muttering.

"Not here," she warned him.

"Yes, Julie," he started, "I have to say this and then you can kick me out and hate me forever or whatever it is you girls do." Julie fought a smile at that, nodding her head to let him know it was okay to continue, "Julie, fuck, I am so so sorry for what I said to you. Actually, I'm sorry for even getting upset in the first place. It was wrong of me to get angry over what did and didn't make you comfortable, and the way I went about telling you was not okay. I said things I definitely shouldn't have," he could see Julie's features softening as he made his way through his apology, "and I wish I could take back every single one. I should never have raised my voice at you, and I definitely shouldn't have been so inconsiderate and rude. It was unfair of me to take what we had for granted because, god, you're the best thing that ever happened to me. You make me smile every day, and you inspire me and I love you so so much, and I hope you remember that. Look, I'm only seventeen, and I probably don't know anything, but I do know that I miss you." He finished with an exhale, a weight already off of his shoulders, no matter how she would react. He would always still love her, he decided, and nothing was going to take that away.

After a few beats of silence, Julie spoke, a teasing smile on her face just like the ones she would always give him when they were alone, "Wow, that was the most mature you've ever sounded. Over your need for big gestures, Patterson?" She looked up at him, not caring about all those down below watching them, and Luke knew that he had never really lost her, that she was just waiting for a moment like this, a chance to forgive him.

"Not quite," he responded with a smirk on his face. He pulled her close to him by her waist, breaths intertwining, and kissed her on that balcony. 

He heard various shouts and gasps of surprise from the growing crowd below, despite the fact that they hadn't heard what the couple had said to each other, but he didn't care. Julie was his once more.

She pulled back before the kiss became too long to have in public, looking up into his eyes with wonder and excitement. The brief moment of magic was dimmed but not yet broken when she joked, "I just think you missed kissing me."

Luke spluttered, "What? No way," before this time Julie grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down to kiss him again. She would call him cheesy yet again for this, but he understood the whole "fireworks" metaphor they used to describe kissing in books. He was a lightning rod and she was a storm and they danced in the rain of life together, worries lifted off their backs into the night sky. 

When they pulled apart once more, Luke chuckled and said, "Well, maybe that was one reason."

Julie threw her head back and laughed and he had never seen nor heard anything so magical. Cheers from below them sounded once more and he joined in with her laugher, combining in a perfect harmony. Now _that_ would make a great song. Maybe she'd let him write it with her. Luke's mind was overflowing with inspiration, with love, with hope. Maybe he could finally take her to the arcade he loved so much, win her something form a claw machine. He could bring her to band practice, let her finally watch him play after so long, maybe even ask her for input. Looking down at her, there was no doubt in his mind: he would follow her anywhere.

Julie pressed her forehead to his, warmth radiating from both of them, and uttered words he had yet to hear her say, "I love you too, Luke Patterson." He nearly jumped up and down like a toddler he was so giddy. Instead, he pecked her cheek quickly, then lifted her up into the air, his hands holding her straight legs up from the back of her thighs. He twirled her in the air like they were in a movie, and he was rewarded by her beautiful laughter ringing out once more. Luke slowly set her down, her hands ending up resting in his own. They smiled at each other, full of love and light.

Then Julie linked their pinkies, an adorable move, and whispered, "I'm yours."

He loved her so much.


End file.
